


Zoom Meeting for Insomniac Super Heroes or Can You Hear What I'm Saying

by mage_girl



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Insomnia sucks, M/M, Mention of Luis, Mention of Natasha Romanoff, Mention of Tony Stark - Freeform, Mention of a lot of people in the MCU honestly, Those Wish items though, Zoom Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mage_girl/pseuds/mage_girl
Summary: What better way to hold off bad dreams, PTSD attacks, and insomnia than to get onto a Zoom call and see who else logs in?Sam would like one good night's sleep but hanging with his friends who just get it, who can joke about everything in the world, and who help him without being too overt is just what he needed.And, he gets to show off what he finds online. It's a win win, right? RIGHT???
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	Zoom Meeting for Insomniac Super Heroes or Can You Hear What I'm Saying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fiversdream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiversdream/gifts).



> This was a hoot to write. I was trying to figure out what to write and what fandom and then, after a few insomniac Zoom calls of my own with my own chosen family, I knew exactly what to do.
> 
> Things may or may not have happened in real life *shifty eyes*
> 
> Thank you to @aphrodite_mine for their fine beta skills. I'm so rusty and I apologize for all the errors....
> 
> And thank you to @furious_winter for taking a crack at it first. I appreciate your wonderful suggestions that made this fic even better! 
> 
> And thank you to my chosen family who laughed at all the parts I hoped they would...
> 
> This fic is part of the Fandom Trumps Hate fundraiser. I am very very honoured to take part again in this amazing event. 
> 
> To my person, @fiversdream... you have been so incredibly patient and kind and I have loved our sporadic email exchanges. This pandemic and this year has been so difficult. I wanted to create a fic that was fluffy and light and funny but also had heart and kindness and care. Something that is a light as this difficult year comes to an end.
> 
> And posting this on Midwinter's eve, the longest day of winter... seems so appropriate. We will now turn to the days of light. I wish you much light and joy and good things in the upcoming year. xxoo

The truth of the matter was that Sam didn’t have an agenda, not anything that was strictly spelled out and recognizable a half mile away. Sam just wanted to make a rough night a little better so he threw up a Zoom call.

And if things went a little sideways after that, well….

**

‘I can’t sleep,’ Sam explained. Sam’s face, half washed out by the light in the background, was hard to read but it was clear he was exhausted as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand while gesturing aimlessly with the other.

‘It’s OK,’ said Steve. He sighed and sat back, the light haloing him, giving him an angelic glow that had Bucky snorting to himself even as he sat within his own small cone of light, accentuating his eyes and his mouth, and not much else.

‘We all know what that is like,’ added Clint, the silhouette of an empty pizza box beside his elbow. 

‘True enough,’ agreed Bucky. 

Clint squinted at the screen. ‘How come you and Rogers aren’t sharing a camera? You live in the same place.’

‘His big beak would take up most of the screen and shove me out,’ explained Bucky. He snickered when Steve shook his head and Sam dropped his head into his hands in mock dismay..

‘That’s getting old, Buck,’ said Steve.

‘That never gets old,’ said Bucky with relish. 

There was a pause and another screen lit up. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ said Shuri, sitting down as she spoke. ‘I was working on something and didn’t notice that Sam had invited me until just now.’

‘Hey, Shuri!’ called Steve.

Shuri beamed at him. ‘How are you doing?’

‘Not bad! Just couldn’t sleep. And when Sam messaged me, I thought saying hi to everyone would be kinda nice.’

‘Who else is supposed to tag in?’ asked Shuri. Shuri’s background was lit up by subtle blue lighting and her bold chunky necklace and earrings sparkled in the light.

‘I put an invite to everyone. Whoever is still up can join in at any time,’ said Sam.

‘So we could have like twenty people on this Zoom?’ asked Shuri.

‘Maybe,’ said Sam. ‘People keep odd hours. And some people even sleep, and _don’t_ get weird dreams.’

‘Hey everyone,’ said Scott, rubbing his eyes and looking distraught. He had logged in and was talking as soon as his audio turned on. ‘Did I hear you say weird dreams? I just had the weirdest dream where I was in the suit and was running away from an anteater and just when I couldn’t get away, I woke up.’

In contrast to Shuri’s peaceful background and tasteful accessories, Scott’s t-shirt had a suspicious stain near his neckline and he fumbled with his lighting, swearing under his breath when he accidentally shone the light in his face.

‘What the hell? Did you eat anything strange before you went to bed?’ asked Sam.

Scott muttered something no one could hear and he adjusted his light, dimming it slightly. ‘Uh… I don’t think so. I mean, I ate some kimchi made out of cucumbers and that was so good,’ answered Scott. ‘There’s this little Korean store down the way that has homemade kimchi and I just pick up a big ol’ jar and eat right from it.’

‘Ew,’ remarked Bucky. 

‘Don’t knock it, pal. I eat a bunch of it during winter and don’t get one sniffle,’ said Scott.

‘Scott. You’re in California. You don’t get snow or cold there,’ pointed out Steve.

‘Don’t be discriminatory against California,’ protested Scott. ‘Just because it doesn’t have snow.’

‘What even are you on?’ teased Sam. He noticed that Scott wasn’t looking quite as panicked and was now slouching in his seat, looking more relaxed. Sam privately put that in his ‘win’ column.

‘Nothing. Luis said to say hi to you all next time I talked to you and also that he wanted to tell you a story about the time he and his cousin got involved in that gambling ring but it wasn’t his fault because he thought it was just a fun game of poker with some guys,’ recited Scott dutifully.

Sam suppressed a snicker; Luis’ stories were legend amongst them and he couldn’t wait to hear what happened according to Luis’ point of view.

‘Is this the gentleman who told us the story of the firecrackers and the turkey?’ asked Shuri suspiciously.

‘Yeah,’ said Scott, grinning.

Shuri scoffed. ‘That nonsense. Is it true?’

‘Knowing Luis, he toned it down a little. I’ve seen things happen and I don’t know if I could even do justice to explaining the event step by step. Not like he does,’ said Scott.

Shuri still looked unconvinced.

‘Anything in particular on your mind tonight, Sam?’ asked Steve, diving into the next subject of conversation. He never was one to dwell on absurdity. Seeing as you put up this Zoom link and all.’

‘Well, I found this thing on Wish,’ began Sam before he was cut off by everyone else booing at him. ‘Y’all just jealous I get these good deals,’ said Sam.

‘No, you take great joy in torturing us with the crap you find,’ disagreed Bucky. ‘Hey, Stevie, remember that one thing he showed us?’

‘Which one?’ asked Steve. ‘You gotta be more specific, Buck. There was the one that was supposed to help support your, uh…’ his eyes darted across the screen, looking, Sam assumed, at Shuri's image.

Shuri made another noise of discontent. ‘The device that supports _breasts_?’ she asked bluntly.

‘I… Maybe?’ tried Steve.

Bucky hooted at him. ‘That blush doing you any good, Rogers? Would you like some aloe for that?’

‘Shut up, jerk. I don’t see you volunteering any information,’ grumbled Steve while Sam threw back his head and laughed and Clint covered his eyes with his hands and snickered and Scott almost fell out of his chair with mirth.

‘I think Sam does it on purpose. Just to see if he can get us riled up,’ said Steve. 

‘I would never,’ said Sam with great dignity which just set Clint to laughing and Scott actually sliding out of his chair this time.

‘You would too,’ said Bucky. ‘What does it take, Wilson? I apologized for pulling the steering wheel out of your car. I bought you a nice new car. Even if it really wasn’t a Lotus. And I’m pretty good with not throwing knives at you when you accidentally startle me.’

‘You only didn’t throw knives at me once,’ corrected Sam. ‘Once. Every other time, you say, whoops, guess my fingers slipped. How does the Winter Soldier lose control of holding throwing knives?’

It was Bucky’s turn to look a little squirrelish. ‘Can’t help it if I get tremors,’ he defended himself while Steve gaped at the camera.

‘I can’t believe I’m listening to this,’ said Clint. ‘You two are destroying my childhood dreams. Captain America and Bucky Barnes, defenders of freedom and all that is good. And this is what I got? It’s like thinking I’m getting something. Like the best ever gift at Christmas and I get coal in my stocking.’ 

Clint cracked a shit-eating grin when Bucky rolled his eyes and Steve’s face changed from astonishment to outraged in a blink of an eye.

Before anyone else could say anything, Peter popped up on the screen, fumbling with his headphones and fiddling with the audio. ‘Hey, can you all hear me?’ he asked as his Zoom finished adding him to the group.

‘Hi, Peter!’ called Shuri.

‘Hey! Did you get that email I sent you?’ asked Peter. His hood was thrown over his head and Sam could see Ned asleep in the background, mouth open and arm thrown over his face. He decided not to point it out because he wanted to see if anyone noticed. 

‘Yes. It was very good. I think I can use that formula. Do you want to Zoom tomorrow so we can talk about it more?’ asked Shuri.

‘That would be great! I was a little worried that it wouldn’t quite cover what you were looking for,’ said Peter.

‘No, I think if we tweak the numbers just a little bit, we will be able to start the chemical process next,’ said Shuri, satisfaction in her tone. ‘Thanks for looking that over for me. It helped a lot.’

Peter looked like he was going to swoon but caught himself just in time. ‘Hey, glad to help out. Maybe I can visit Wakanda again.’

‘That would be great. I know we both have to finish up school but would you have time when the next break happens?’ asked Shuri.

‘I think so?’ Peter crinkled up his nose. ‘I gotta check and see when I start at my internship.’

‘Is Tony giving you a hard time?’ asked Steve.

‘Nah. I’m just worried that if I tell him I have an invite to Wakanda, he’ll want to go with me and then it’ll be total chaos,’ said Peter.

‘You wouldn’t be wrong,’ muttered Clint. ‘Stark and chaos go hand in hand.’

There was a moment’s silence as they each remembered their own Tony memories. They all eyed each other.

Sam sighed deliberately, trying to regain control of the conversation ‘Do you want to see the thing or are you all gonna chicken out?’ he asked.

‘I’m not afraid of no Wish thing,’ paraphrased Scott.

‘I’m not a chicken!’ exclaimed Peter, despite clearly having no idea what they were talking about, with Shuri nodding in agreement. Ned snored in counter-point and Sam grinned.

Clint shrugged. ‘This better be good, Falcon.’

‘It’s probably not,’ prophesied Bucky, earning a scowl from Sam.

‘Oh, might as well,’ put in Steve. ‘I’m resigned to being traumatized yet again.’

Sam smirked and then shared what he had found on Wish.

There was a moment’s silence and then Scott said, ‘What the hell am I looking at?’

‘You know that famous painting with the dogs playing poker?’ asked Sam. ‘Preferably done in tasteful velvet.’

‘Yeah?’ said Scott cautiously.

‘Just imagine all of us getting these and then putting them on and taking a photo of us reenacting that painting,’ suggested Sam.

‘I call dibs on the German Shepherd,’ said Bucky, flatly.

‘Jerk,’ muttered Steve. ‘Fine. I get to be the Dalmatian.’

‘Before anyone gets any ideas here, who do we think should get the other ones?’ asked Scott.

‘You’re the pug,’ said Bucky without hesitation.

‘Why am I the pug?’ asked Scott.

‘You just seem that type. You know, and also, a pug is small and so are you when you shrink down in your Ant-Man suit,’ added Bucky.

Scott mulled that over. ‘Right. OK, I claim the pug one.’

‘I think Peter makes a fine corgi, don’t you?’ put in Shuri. She laughed at the look on Peter’s face. ‘Are you offended, colonizer?’ 

‘I don’t know what to say,’ admitted Peter. ‘I thought I would look pretty good as the white poodle.’

‘Mmmm…. poodles are kinda weird. Corgis are like, super friendly and smart. And they have a cute, wiggly butt,’ said Shuri.

Peter’s face brightened and he grinned. ‘Do you think I have a cute butt?’

‘Trust you to pick up on that,’ said Shuri and gave a slight snort of amusement.

‘You don’t have any butt,’ commented Sam. ‘White boys don’t have butts. They have slopes.’

Clint spat out his mouthful of soda and glared at the screen. ‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome,’ said Sam sweetly. ‘Now, let’s get our act together or we’ll be here all night.’

‘What’s your hurry?’ demanded Bucky. ‘I don’t think I’m gonna sleep anymore tonight so might as well sit up and argue about which dog head belongs to who.’

‘That… didn’t sound right,’ said Steve. ‘And anyway, I agree with Shuri. Peter, you’re a corgi.’

‘Fine. Then Scott gets to be the white poodle,’ said Peter.

‘You know that judging look Sam gives us all? Sam’s the Shiba Inu,’ said Clint. ‘Those dogs look like they are judging everyone and everything they come across.’

‘What?!’ exclaimed Sam.

‘Wilson, despite the life or death situation back in DC, I did notice you gave me some stink eye while we were fighting. And let’s not forget shoving me into the back seat of the car while we were driving around and all,’ said Bucky.

‘I haven’t forgotten a damn thing,’ said Sam, delight in his voice.

‘So what do we have left and who do we have left?’ wondered Scott.

‘I think we have Clint and Shuri left,’ answered Steve. ‘Seeing as everyone else has been assigned their dog.’

‘We have the white poodle and the black poodle left,’ said Sam.

‘Right. So who wants to be which one?’ asked Steve.

‘I leave it up to Shuri,’ said Clint. ‘If I have to be a poodle at all, that is.’

‘Well, since you didn’t claim one right away, you get what you get,’ said Bucky.

‘I’ll be the white poodle,’ decided Shuri. 

‘Guess that leaves me with the black poodle,’ said Clint.

‘Weird and weirder,’ observed Shuri. ‘I won’t lie, people think that I’m weird enough and so I guess it's fitting that the two poodles are me and the guy who uses arrows in this day and age.’

‘Who would say that?’ asked Steve, outraged on Shuri’s behalf.

‘People,’ said Shuri, shrugging her shoulders slightly. ‘They find it hard to believe that I am the one coming up with these weapons and protection devices for the Black Panther and the Dora Milaje. They think I’m just a spoiled princess who does nothing all day long.’

‘People really don’t pay attention, do they?’ asked Scott. ‘I mean, you just got a bunch of awards because you helped me with stabilizing anomalies within the quantum realm.’

‘And don’t forget those two papers you co-wrote with Dr Banner and Dr Foster. Plus, I know you’re busy on a paper with Dr Ross,’ said Peter. ‘And we’ve been talking about partnering on a paper as well.’

‘Thanks,’ said Shuri, smiling slightly. ‘It’s mostly people in my own country. They think I’m too young to come up with the things I have and they don’t believe that I am concerned about the future of Wakanda.’

‘Wow. People in your country can kick rocks,’ said Peter.

‘Not to change the subject,’ said Scott, ‘But are we seriously buying these dog heads?’

‘Nah. But if you want to go ahead and get yours and then let us know what Luis thought, I’m not going to stop you,’ said Sam. He noted that everyone was smiling and looked at ease. He felt pretty good himself and felt a rush of affection for his friends.

‘I might just do that,’ said Scott. ‘Luis would love one.’

‘If you buy them, we want pictures,’ requested Shuri.

‘There will absolutely be pictures. I could buy one for all the guys! We could take a picture and use it for our holiday cards!’ exclaimed Scott with a grin.

‘I definitely want a card, then,’ said Shuri. ‘I will be the envy of the other scientists.’

‘You’ll be something,’ teased Peter. 

‘Anyone else going to take holiday pictures?’ asked Scott.

‘Don’t encourage anyone,’ suggested Clint.

‘Just because you get suckered into one with Natasha every year,’ commented Bucky.

Sam only raised his eyebrows and grinned, looking like he was enjoying the whole show.

‘And you weren’t part of it last year? I seem to recall someone’s sulky face with the reindeer ears,’ reminded Clint.

‘Watch it, Barton. I know where you live,’ threatened Bucky, pointing a finger at the screen.

‘Buck, we’ve talked about this,’ said Steve, his voice weary. ‘No threatening our friends with bodily harm.’

‘Who says we’re friends?’ retorted Bucky. ‘The man brings up one of my most humiliating experiences, that friendship is dead to me.’

Clint scoffed. ‘Like you had it bad. Who was in the adorable reindeer outfit and who was cast as one of Santa’s helpers?’

‘I liked that Christmas card,’ piped up Scott.

‘Shut your yap,’ muttered Bucky. 

‘We should do new holiday cards this year,’ suggested Peter. ‘Ones that we like,’ he added, seeing Clint and Bucky’s identical glares.

‘What would that even look like? I mean, Bucky is Jewish, Bruce practices Buddhism, Tony is an atheist, and I’m Roman Catholic. That’s just a sample of us. If we throw in everyone, there’s not gonna be a coherent theme,’ pointed out Steve.

‘Who says there needs to be a theme?’ asked Sam. ‘That’s the artist in you speaking up.’

‘Maybe we could have a colour scheme,’ said Scott. ‘Like, red and green.’

‘Oh, that’s original,’ drawled Clint.

‘You got a better idea?’ asked Scott.

‘Yeah. We don’t do any holiday cards at all,’ answered Clint.

‘You had one bad experience, Clint. That shouldn’t have you against them,’ said Peter.

In response, Clint shared a montage of the past four years worth of holiday cards. There was the one where he was dressed as Santa’s elf. The one where he wore one of the ugliest sweaters Peter swore he had ever seen. The one where he was in a hospital bed with both legs and one arm up in traction. And, the one that had Peter’s mouth opening like Pikachu, where Clint was dressed in nothing but well positioned leather straps, black eyeliner around his eyes, and a smirk. 

‘What… what was the holiday theme that year?’ asked Sam. No one else had said anything; they all looked a bit like Peter.

‘That was Natasha’s ‘I’ve been bad, Santa’ theme,’ answered Clint.

‘Man, your voice sounds as dead as your eyes look,’ commented Bucky.

‘Yup. That’s me. So you’ll excuse me if I’m less than enthused at the idea of doing holiday pictures,’ said Clint.

‘Fair enough,’ said Scott, holding up his hands in a placating manner. ‘I get why you don’t want to take pictures dressed like a joke or in the hospital. But what if it were on your terms?’

Clint raised his eyebrows. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Exactly what I said. Look, I like to joke around and tease my friends. But if I say something or do something that’s hurtful, it’s not funny and it’s not fun. At least, to me. So if we took fun holiday pictures, then you get to have a say in them,’ said Scott.

‘I mean… it wasn’t like it didn’t seem funny at the time,’ allowed Clint. ‘I wasn’t forced into doing anything. I just… I guess if I’m going to be in a photo, I want to be me.’

‘So why not do that?’ asked Scott. ‘I mean, I’m in.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ said Clint. ‘Thanks.’

‘So maybe holiday cards this year,’ summed up Peter. ‘Scott might buy some dog heads and post photos of them. And we still haven’t decided on what we’re going to have for our next get together.’

Thor’s grin preceded the rest of his image as he signed in and then he said, ‘I’m sorry I’m late! I was helping Jane in the lab and Darcy told me that if I don’t leave, she won’t catch the hint and shut things down. So I left.’

‘Oh, how is that going? She was pretty upset the other day,’ said Peter.

‘I think it’s better. Darcy says that she can at least get Jane to eat something now so that’s progress,’ said Thor as everyone else nodded. They all could track how well something was coming along by how much Jane ate or did not eat.

‘It’s good to see you, Thor,’ said Scott. ‘When you gonna come visit next? Luis wants to show you that one bar he told you about.’

Thor’s grin widened even more. ‘I’ll make time for it before I have to leave for Asgard again. Tell Luis that I will bring back some of that homemade brew I told him about.’

‘Oh, he’ll love that news,’ said Scott. ‘He said the last time you brought him something, he swore he could see colours.’

Thor snickered and said, ‘Very well. I shall see what other senses get affected this time.’

‘Can you bring some of that to the next get together?’ asked Peter. ‘We were trying to figure out what we’re going to bring to eat and drink.’

‘Which get together?’ asked Thor.

‘The not-Thanksgiving get together,’ said Shuri. 

‘Ah, yes. Don’t you have traditional food for this event?’ asked Thor.

‘Yeah. I mean, it does depend on the household and what they usually have for dinner. Some people have ham,’ said Peter.

‘Most homes have turkey,’ added Bucky.

‘And some homes have both, ‘said Clint. ‘Those are the most popular versions. And then there’s the vegetables and desserts and all. It usually is a lot of food and there needs to be leftovers for the next couple of days.’

‘That’s a must,’ agreed Steve.

‘The problem is that with two super soldiers, we need a lot of food and we mean a lot if we are to have two to three days’ worth of leftovers,’ said Clint.

‘The leftovers are important?’ asked Thor.

‘Yeah because you can make sandwiches and soups and other sorts of things with them,’ said Clint.

‘And you can just sort of fill up a plate and snack as you want,’ added Peter. ‘I like filling a plate of leftovers and grazing.’

‘So if we were to get all the food we needed, what does that look like?’ asked Thor.

‘That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Twenty pound turkeys are hefty but Steve could finish off one of those by himself. Bucky could do the same. We have to get multiple turkeys and hams and goose and cornish hens and whatever,’ explained Clint.

‘Roast beef,’ added Peter.

‘Who has roast beef for Thanksgiving?’ asked Scott. ‘I’ve never had roast beef. It was always turkey.’

‘It’s a suggestion,’ said Peter. ‘Look, if we want to have enough leftovers, we have to have a variety of main courses. So turkey, goose, cornish hens, ham, roast beef… that sort of thing. Maybe even chicken wings and ribs or something. Just for something different.’

‘I like this idea,’ said Shuri. ‘I can bring some of our dishes from Wakanda. You will all like them.’

‘That sounds great!’ said Steve. ‘Your food is delicious’

‘How are we going to divvy this up though?’ asked Clint. ‘One person or even four people aren’t responsible for everyone.’

‘We could make a list and ask for a number of stuff in categories. Like, main meat or vegetarian dishes, vegetables, dessert, breads, drinks. That sort of thing,’ suggested Sam.

‘That sounds good. Where would we post it?’ asked Peter. ‘Seeing as we are all over the place right now.’

‘Could just make a Google doc and share it through email,’ answered Clint. ‘That seems to be the easiest.’

‘You know Tony is gonna want to hijack this whole thing and have it all catered or something,’ pointed out Scott.

‘He can try,’ said Bucky.

‘He’ll want to,’ said Scott. ‘I know the man has more money than god and for whatever reason, he chooses to lavish it upon us.’

‘What does Pym think about it?’ asked Sam with a sly grin.

Scott groaned and slid down his chair until his hair stood up on end. ‘I try not to talk to Hank about Stark and vice versa. I know they don’t have a good relationship and can barely have a working relationship with each other. Hope and I feel like we’re hiding an affair from her dad when we go hang out with Stark.’

‘That’s gotta suck a little,’ observed Clint. ‘I’m glad I don’t have to worry about any of that. I can just go down to Stark and start complaining about my arrows and the next thing I know, we’re talking about improving things. And I get to try new arrows out.’

Scott stuck his tongue out at the screen.

‘That’s real mature, Lang,’ teased Clint.

‘That’s real rich coming from you,’ returned Scott.

Shuri sighed loudly. ‘Are you two done yet?’ 

‘Depends. Scott, you gonna keep whining how hard it is to be in Tony Stark’s good graces while avoiding Daddy Pym?’ teased Clint.

‘Fellas, that’s enough,’ interrupted Steve. ‘Let’s stay focused here. I would like to see what it’s like to have leftovers after two or three days. That’s a new one to me.’

‘No it ain’t,’ disagreed Bucky. ‘If you’re forgetting the two day old crap for food we had to eat while on the march in Europe, then that vacation in ice did more damage than I originally thought.’

Steve made his own series of faces at the camera which Bucky returned with interest.

‘Everyone, our national icons,’ intoned Sam as Thor burst out laughing.

‘I didn’t agree to be anyone’s icon,’ said Bucky, emphasizing the last word with a wrinkle of his nose. ‘If people want to put me on a damn pedestal, ain’t my fault if I fall on their head.’

‘I don’t think anyone’s put you on a pedestal, exactly,’ said Steve. ‘More like a broken plank.’

‘Wait until later, Rogers. I’ll give you a broken plank,’ muttered Bucky.

Steve looked at the screen with a grimace. ‘You realize we have young people in this chat.’

‘No, go on,’ said Shuri. ‘I consider this part of my education of colonizer nonsense.’

Sam wheezed until he had to excuse himself. He returned after a few minutes with a glass of water which he gulped down while still chuckling between gulps.

Thor waited politely until Sam flapped his hand at the screen to indicate that Thor should continue. Thor nodded and said, ‘Before we got off topic, I believe we have a solution to the feast of everything.’

‘Is that what we’re calling it? Because that’s really kind of awesome,’ said Peter.

‘It is,’ agreed Scott. ‘And that way, we can be sure to have variety.’

‘What time is it now?’ asked Peter, yawning. ‘I better get some sleep here if I want to make any sense at all later on this morning.’

‘It’s about four a.m.,’ said Sam. ‘What time do you have to be up?’

‘Six,’ answered Peter. He shrugged. ‘It isn’t like I haven’t pulled all nighters before. I have one class and I actually can take about a three hour nap and then ease into the rest of my day. I’ll be fine. I’ve done worse.’

‘OK. I think we got everything covered. You wanna head out? I don’t think you’re gonna miss much,’ said Sam.

‘Sure. Thanks for the invite, Sam. I’ll talk to you all later. Shuri, message me tonight, OK?’ asked Peter.

‘Yeah. I better go, too. I have to get a little sleep before T’Challa comes in and starts demanding my time,’ said Shuri. ‘Thanks, Sam,’ she added with a sweet smile.

‘My pleasure,’ said Sam. ‘I’m glad you could keep us company.’

Shuri nodded and then her screen went black at the same time as Peter’s.

‘I suppose I better try to nap a little bit before the day starts here,’ said Steve.

Bucky snorted. ‘What exactly do you have going on this morning? If I remember correctly, you shoved all your appointments to the afternoon.’

‘I might have,’ said Steve without pausing, going on with an aplomb that had the others hiding smiles with their hands over their mouths.

‘You might have?’ demanded Bucky, half rising out of his seat. ‘Punk, I’m about ready to walk into the other room and---’

‘No, let’s not have a repeat of that episode,’ begged Scott. ‘All I saw was ass.’

‘You’re lucky,’ said Sam. ‘I saw more than ass.’

‘That was one time,’ protested Steve. ‘We forgot my camera was still on.’

Bucky visibly preened. ‘How could you concentrate on anything but me, Rogers?’

Clint made a gagging noise and Thor snickered when Steve put his hands over his face and moaned softly.

‘Look, why don’t we go try and get a nap. I actually am kind of tired now, thanks to Sam’s meddling,’ said Bucky.

‘I’m doing my patriotic duty by helping out our elderly veterans,’ said Sam.

‘I’m going to bed,’ said Bucky, flatly, ruining it by grinning at the screen. He waved and then his screen went black.

‘I suppose I better head to bed then,’ said Steve. ‘He gets cranky if I stay up too long.’

They all could hear Bucky yell ‘liar!’ in the background. Steve only grinned unrepentantly. ‘Hey Sam, thanks for inviting us. Invite us again sometime.’

‘Sure will,’ said Sam. He could read between the lines and knew what Steve wasn’t saying. Steve and Bucky still had bad nights and sometimes they were up all night. Sam made a mental note to do this on a more regular basis when he couldn’t get to sleep. It obviously helped more than him to chat with friends in the wee hours of the morning.

‘Guess I better leave as well,’ said Scott. ‘I don’t have anything going on today so I can sleep until I wake up again.’

‘I’m gonna text Cassie and tell her to wake you up,’ teased Clint. ‘I can bribe her.’

‘Aw, man. Have a heart,’ entreated Scott. ‘The last time you bribed her, she made me exercise with her. I almost died.’

‘Cassie said she was a little worried you were gonna keel over,’ agreed Clint. ‘I told her she’s gotta take it easy on you.’

Scott rolled his eyes. ‘Sure, sure. But I’ll get in shape some day.’

‘Hey, when I’m in town next, I’ll let you know. We can go out for burgers and beers,’ suggested Clint.

‘Sounds great!’ said Scott. ‘See you all soon.’ He flashed a final smile and then signed out.

Clint, Sam, and Thor all yawned at the same time.

‘I best head to bed. First, I will see if I can coax Jane away and then get her to sleep a little. If she makes that breakthrough in the next couple of days, it’ll be better for everyone all the way around,’ said Thor.

‘If she makes that breakthrough, I expect to be seeing some pretty weird shit as our universe tears in half or something,’ retorted Clint.

‘Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,’ said Thor, gravely. ‘It’s never a good thing to mess with the fabric of reality.’

‘Nah, I’m OK with no major catastrophes,’ said Clint with a shiver. ‘Give my best to Dr Foster, will ya? And Darcy, too. I’ll see all of you when we have our big feast of everything.’

‘I will tell them hello and look forward to eating and drinking with you,’ said Thor. He yawned again and then said, ‘Thank you, Sam. I will try to join a little earlier next time.’

‘No problem, man. You have a lot going on. I’ll see you at the big get together,’ said Sam.

Thor left and then it was just Clint and Sam.

‘You doing OK?’ asked Clint. ‘I know you couldn’t sleep and I appreciate the invite but… we all have those rough days.’

‘Yeah. I’ve been having some hard days and not getting enough sleep and then I start having those damn nightmares again,’ said Sam.

Clint nodded, keeping his eyes on Sam’s face. ‘Yeah….I know how that feels.’

‘I know you do. So does every one of us. I didn’t expect as many people to log in tonight. I thought maybe a couple would join the Zoom,’ said Sam.

‘Well, I have the feeling Steve and Bucky don’t sleep a whole lot. Part of it is the super soldiers thing and part of it is what they each went through. And the rest of us must have just been in sync or something,’ said Clint.

‘Must be something like that,’ said Sam. ‘Anyway, I’m real glad that you all got online. It helped and maybe now I can get a decent night’s sleep.’

‘If not,’ said Clint, stretching and yawning again. ‘If not, then just put up another one of these. Whoever is up will join you to ease the burden a little bit.’

‘Thanks, Clint. Talk to you later, OK?’ asked Sam.

‘Sure. See ya, Falcon,’ said Clint with a cheeky grin.

‘See ya, Hawkeye,’ replied Sam with an equally cheeky grin. He watched as Clint signed off and then sighed, logging off from the program himself.

Sam rubbed his face with one hand, feeling the rasp of facial hair against his palm. He stretched and got up from his desk, pausing to drink a glass of water at his kitchen sink. The morning light was just beginning to make itself seen; the darkness of the sky was turning to a lighter shade of grey.

Sam walked into his bedroom and pushed back the covers of his bed. He settled in and felt his body relax against the mattress, the pillow soft against his cheek. He rubbed his cheek against the fabric, feeling like a contented cat, and closed his eyes.

His head wasn’t filled with images of fire and destruction. He didn’t see Riley pinwheeling through the sky, out of his reach. Instead, he heard the voices of his friends, the laughter and the happiness they shared. He could visualize their faces and see the wide smiles that they directed at him.

Sam fell asleep and did not dream.


End file.
